The results are in: Take these steps to start turning back the clock now.

Lying about your age is about to get a whole lot easier. Groundbreaking research suggests that you can shave years off your biological age—and looks—with a few simple lifestyle changes. "The body has tremendous reparative capabilities not just to stave off the effects of aging but to reverse them," says plastic surgeon Darrick Antell, an assistant professor at New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Best of all, you can begin now.

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THE DIET THAT WORKS Some of the most intriguing research involves telomeres, the caps at the ends of chromosomes that protect our DNA from damage. Although telomeres shorten naturally with age, smoking, stress, and obesity can speed up the process. "Short telomeres have been associated with higher risks of chronic diseases, including diabetes and some cancers," says Cindy Leung, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. Studies have concluded that shorter telomeres can also make us look older. "You know how some people who are 70 look 90?" says Immaculata De Vivo, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "They probably have shorter telomeres." While we have long known that the Mediterranean diet—rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, and a moderate amount of red wine—improves health, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston recently discovered that it may be even more effective than other healthy diets at preventing accelerated telomere shortening. "Women on the diet had longer telomeres. Our study showed that it's possible to take a year and a half off your biological age with modest changes to your diet," says De Vivo, the study's senior author. Researchers haven't yet isolated which components of the diet appear to be the most effective, but the women who adhered to it most closely had the longest telomeres. And swap your soda for that glass of cabernet: According to another study, sugary sodas don't just widen your waistline; they also shorten your telomeres. "Our findings show that someone who drank just eight ounces of sugary soda a day had shorter telomeres than someone who drank no soda," says Leung, one of the study's authors. "Drinking 20 ounces was associated with 4.6 years of additional biological aging, an effect comparable to that of smoking."

A PILL WITH PROMISE Of course, anytime there's an effective diet, there's sure to be a pill promising the same—or better—results. Enter TA-65, a nutritional supplement that proponents claim can not only slow telomere shortening but actually lengthen existing ones. Available without a prescription, TA-65 is derived from astragalus root extract, a powerful antioxidant, and is said to work by activating the enzyme telomerase, which counteracts telomere shortening. Joseph Raffaele, an internist and cofounder of PhysioAge Medical Group in New York, has studied TA-65 since 2007 and says his research shows that people who take TA-65 have "a decrease in blood pressure, cholesterol, and fasting glucose as well as an increase in bone density." Ron Rothenberg, founder and medical director of the California HealthSpan Institute in Encinitas, is also a believer, and says that it's never too late to start. "It works best when it's used with other healthy lifestyle choices, not in isolation," explains Rothenberg. All this purported telo lengthening is not without controversy. Some doctors are concerned because telomerase activity has been associated with a higher risk of cancer; they recommend waiting until more studies are completed.

TRICKS TO YOUNGER SKIN One thing there is no controversy about: the antiaging benefits of exercise. Research indicates that staying active can preserve everything from mental acuity to muscle mass. Now, it seems, exercise can also take years off your complexion. Researchers at McMaster University Medical Center in Ontario, Canada, found that people who took part in moderate endurance exercise for 30 to 45 minutes twice a week for three months developed younger-looking skin. "At the microscopic level, their skin was about 20 years younger," says neurologist Mark Tarnopolsky, the study's lead author. "It makes sense to do endurance exercise—biking, running, the elliptical—at least twice a week." A visit to the dermatologist can also encourage your skin to act younger. Lasers like Fraxel and PicoSure stimulate collagen and elastin and provoke the skin to essentially age in reverse, says dermatologist Robert Anolik of New York's Laser & Skin Surgery Center. Sometimes going backward truly is the best way forward.

This article originally appeared in the April 2015 issue of Harper's BAZAAR.